Here's something to keep you occupado while I survive my exile from the 212.
Let me know your scores.
Frankly, I'm scared to play.
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41 comments:
I got a piss-poor 11 out of 24. I can't wait to see the answers.
Yeah, kinda scary.
42% right for me. I'll be curious when she posts the right answers to see which direction my errors were.
I did it and scored 46%. That's scary. I thought that most of them were POD, but obviously not. I guess I need to get to Borders more often.
Well, I don't have time to play, but I did note this:
(7) "And your point is what? I don't even care. If you do have a point, keep it to yourself." She pauses. "No, I do care, tell me." She pauses again. "No, never mind, just get out." He starts to leave. "Wait." He looks back. "Never mind, just go." He walks out the door and slams it behind him. "Wait!" she yells.
I know the woman this is based on. I think we're related by blood. This is spooky! hahahahah!!!
I got the same: 11/24. It pretty much turned into an SAT "make a design with the bubbles down the page" guessing game.
Excuse me while I gouge my eyes out.
People actually buy this crap?
Wow. I got 42%. Haven't scored that badly on a test since high school geometry.
Looks like everyone is getting around 50% which tells you either POD is as good as regular publishing, or regular publishing is as bad as POD or she knows how to pick out passages to confuse the reader.
Holy crap! If any of these are commercially published, I'll be sick. Sick but encouraged!
50%! Woo hoo!! Wait, that means some of that crap got published. Purchased even. That must mean that there's a huge opportunity out there for good material!
What did the two scalp hunters say when they woke up surrounded by 1,000 angry indians?
"Oh my God, we're gonna be rich!"
I got 54%.
Those story starts are horrible. They all sound POD.
I said that all but #1 and #10 were PODs and I got a 42%, "about average, believe it or not."
I got 58%! Woo hoo!! Can't wait to see the answers! And, no, Podgirl assured me they're not all PODs.
Okay, I supposed the worse it read, the more likely it was commercial. Using that method, I earned 14/24 or 58%.
No wonder I can't tell what editors will buy. Good thing I'm not an agent!
I've gotta say, I actually recogise one of them (commercial) and I loved that book. It's a classic, or ought to be, and I'm prickling with indignation at the thought of anyone criticising the writing style. Grr.
It works in context and I'm usually pretty picky.
Ali
Woo-hoo! I scored 58% -- you know, I think I've read one or two of these beasts.
Saralee
Oh, and, anonymous, these weren't necessarily starts. Just excerpts. So presumably they could have come from anywhere in the given novel. I might not continue reading a book that starts with some of these, but then again I might not be so taken aback if a few of them were buried in the middle.
I got 42%. She told me the high score thus far was a Harper editor at 71%.
Holy Vi Tal Men!
Ok, MS you can play now.
I got none right. Zero, Zilch, Nada, the OLD DONUT HOLE....
Good thing I'm not leaving the 212. I might get dropped off at the nearest Abbey.
Way, way too painful to read. Gave up after first three...
While I had fun playing the game (haven't got my score yet) I have to say, I think it's all too easy to take a few sentences out of context and have them sound ridiculous. I think in all but the very best-written books one could come up with stuff that sounds terrible in a vacuum like this.
Of course, some of these were so bad as to defy even the possibility that the rest might be any good, but on many of them I felt I had to suspend judgment.
-- Listen... hear that? Sound like a telephone hear that?
-- Just wait here till I get that door...
-- Sound like a telephone...
-- Just... the door shuddered, -- wait...
-- No I can't now goodbye...!
Everything in this passge is 'sic.' Does it sound impressive? Or like a POD?
Well, it's taken from a random page of "JR" by William Gaddis.
It's easy. I bet that you can do it too.
They all looked awful to me. I wouldn't read a single one of them.
25 percent here.
I missed the deadline, but I took the test anyway. I picked 13 of them as published: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24. Scary, scary choices all around.
I have to admit, I flagged #1 as "published" because the mirror business seemed like a complete no-no. It was too clearly POD, so I thought it was a trick. Might have overthought that one, among others.
Even the best writer can pull out some duds and the worst hack in the world can write the occasional paragraph that sings. The test is in how the entire piece works, not that you can't find some part of it that doesn't reach up or down to mediocrity. As such, I tend to dismiss this as a carefully constructed showpiece, rather than any sort of objective test of overall writing quality in POD vs. traditional publishing.
50% here. I knew I should have chosen more commercial. Some of that crap is a sign from Revelations. No, really.
I missed the deadline, too, but these were my choices for commercial:
3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 15, 19, 23, 24.
I recognized a couple: Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.
I picked #1 for POD, not because of the mirror, but because it had the wrong number of days in a year.
9 out of 24. I thought they were all beginnings of things, which makes a difference.
Got the Palahniuk excerpt wrong, and I've read the story. Good thing I'm not an agent.
63% for me. A solid D-. Hope she grades on a curve!
First, I only got 15 out of 24 correct. Second, I'm not surprised.
I really would like to know what book #1 came from... does anyone know?
I missed the deadline but got 16 out of 24.
What I noticed about a lot of the Pod ones is that they rambled, didn't make any sense,(like what is that thing about the rubber and the road? Is it supposed to be sexual? In any case, it was awful), or they told us what someone was like without showing any evidence.
Came out at 50%. Not a surprise. I recognized the Selby but none of the other pubs. I wondered how many were opening lines vs. cuts from mid-book.
Witliz,
Thanks for getting zero. You gave me the courage to try. (I mean, if Miss Snark can be scared to try, after all she's read and seen, so can I!)
I only got 8/24--a perfect 33 1/3 RPM, I mean %.
And Witliz,
Did you go back and change and try again, changing everyone of your answers, and thus score a 100% correct?
I got 50 percent, but what's most interesting is that editors and agents led the pack. Guess they know what they're doing after all!! LOL
Fun test.
I got 11.5 -- I gave myself half credit for getting an answer right then crossing it out -- just proving the old adage that your initial thought is probably the right one.
I don't think these statistics prove anything. A sample of 19 editors is too small, especially when you compare it to a sample 550 readers. I am willing to bet that if you had 550 editors taking this quiz, they'd do just as badly as the readers, on average.
I didn't play, but all I can say about #14 is eeww, eeww, eeww!
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